


Moonlight

by Cosmicstardust



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Confessions, F/M, Jealousy, Post chapter 108 spoilers, hohohohohohoho B)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-05-08 22:14:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5515262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cosmicstardust/pseuds/Cosmicstardust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seems that there are residual feelings between Soo Won and Yona, and they come to light after an engagement announcement.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Christmas gift for my friends Eve and Nicole! I hope you guys enjoy the Soo Won and Yona madness that goes on, and have a very merry Christmas <3

As the resolution of the nadai conflict in Sei laid itself to rest, the Happy Hungry Bunch, with the addition of Lili and her group, found themselves resting with it. It had been a tumultuous time, one that wore out Yona and Lili, especially.

They had been given plenty of clean, safe water to drink to make up for their several days without it, and the two young ladies were encouraged to rest as much as they could. Such an ordeal was enough to take the energy out of anyone. But especially for Lili, who had killed her first person, it had been a traumatizing event. Yona knew, but they kept it from the others to keep them from worrying needlessly. However, the red-headed former princess knew of the tears she had shed, and how much it had truly affected her.

Add onto that one overwhelmingly over-protective father, and one troublesome, young king.

Joon-Gi had been worried about his daughter, despite his inability to express as much, even in his facial expressions. However, Lili had gotten an earful when she returned, and was, once again, under house arrest. Yona remained in the shadows, knowing that if her identity were brought to light, it would throw off the whole facade of peace that Soo Won had worked to create.

As thanks for his help in saving Lili (and Yona), Joon-Gi had invited Soo Won to stay within his manor. The Happy Hungry Bunch, personally invited by Lili, stayed on the opposite end, with Lili and Yona. However, Yona quickly found out that Soo Won's presence unnerved her, despite her claims that she had put their past behind her, that she was  _fine_. She wasn't fine. With Soo Won in the immediate area, she couldn't relax.

Although, it was up for debate whether that was due to residual romantic feelings, or due to their past.

It seemed that he had no intentions of hurting her anymore, nor did Joo-Doh, but that didn't help ease her heart by any means. And yet, one evening, as she lay awake staring at the ceiling, she wondered,  _is it really that?_

It felt so easy to write off the hammering in her chest as anger, or fear, or hatred. Yet, she still had the hairpin. She knew exactly where it was kept, and she knew exactly how it feels in her hands when she holds it.

Frustrated, Yona left the comfort of her bed, made herself decent, and slipped outside without waking Lili. The cool night air helped clear her mind a little bit, more than that stuffy room did, but it wasn't enough. She knew she would have to approach this problem head on someday, but how?

As she thought that, she rounded the corner, and ran into someone. Her heart jumped into her throat, as she hadn't expected anyone else to be out at that hour.

"Oh, I'm sorry--"

"No, no, it was--"

Both speakers became silent as they realized exactly who they had ran into. What was this, a joke? Were they fated to run into each other at every possible opportunity?

"Good evening, Yona," he greeted her, his voice quiet and almost sad.

"Soo Won," she responded, not meeting his eye.

"It's lovely out tonight, isn't it?"

"Yes," she answered. "I think I'll return to bed now." Yona turned on her heel, her face heating up--  _why?! Why am I blushing?!_ \-- and she wanted to pretend this whole thing never happened, that she never saw Soo Won, but before she could properly walk away, she was stopped. Glancing down at her hand, which was now comfortably fitted into Soo Won's, she glanced up at him, his blond hair luminescent in the moonlight. "What are you doing?" she asked as evenly as she could, although her heart began to pound inside her chest, and she felt lightheaded.

"I wanted to speak with you," he whispered, a slight hint of pleading in his voice. "Please, will you allow me?"

He seemed so sincere to her, as well as insistent. Was it really something that important?

"What is it, Soo Won?" she asked warily. Yona was still unsure of how she felt about this whole situation, but she was going to, against her better judgment, give him the benefit of the doubt.

"It is about Lili," he started, leading her away from the main rooms, so no one would hear their conversation. They were close enough where, if she screamed, they could hear her, but their whispered words could remain unknown. "Joon-Gi told me earlier that he has arranged our marriage."

Yona felt her heart drop to her knees as she looked up at him, her eyes wide and glazed. She couldn't believe it. Lili and... Soo Won? The same Soo Won she had loved for so many years of her life?

That she, perhaps, still loved?

Words were impossible to form as her brain worked endlessly to process this information. She couldn't even imagine it: Lili and Soo Won as King and Queen? Emperor and Empress? It was totally inconceivable! Apparently, Soo Won had noted the look on her face, and nodded pensively.

"I believe I had a similar reaction."

"Wh-- How?" Yona tried asking, but it didn't make any sense. She didn't even know where to start.

"My intentions were misread. They believed that I came to save her because I was in love with her," he explained, glancing down at her. She felt her cheeks burn at the action, and she hated herself for it.  _Get a grip!!_ "Before all of this happened, my engagement had been discussed with the generals of the tribes. Apparently, it is also their business, as it involves the kingdom's heir. However..." he trailed off, glancing away. Yona could have sworn she saw his ears turn the slightest shade of pink. "No matter how much I denied them, they persisted. And when Joo-Doh asked about 'the girl from Awa'..." he paused, giving Yona a moment to realize he was speaking about her. "I... I realized something."

Despite her previous fantasies that he would say those words to her, Yona froze. She wasn't sure she  _wanted_ Soo Won to finish that thought. Maybe they were better off not finishing this conversation; too many chains of events could happen due to what he could say next.

"Yona, I--"

"I won't let her have you," she blurted, covering her mouth as soon as she finished the sentence. What kind of primal instinct was  _that_?! How could she just  _say_ something like that?! Soo Won shared the same sentiment, as he looked at Yona, wide-eyed, blush covering his cheeks. "I-I mean-- um, congratulations!" But neither one of them bought it. It wasn't that she felt malicious towards Lili, or felt like she didn't deserve Soo Won, but she certainly didn't care for him like Yona had. 

"Are you jealous, Yona?" he asked, without a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He wasn't teasing her, he was legitimately asking her, which somehow made it worse. She was used to Hak's jokes and teases, but Soo Won was actually asking if she was jealous that he and Lili were to get  _married_.

"No, of course not! I meant..." she floundered, trying to find an excuse. "I meant... you don't love her, so why should you marry her?" she asked defensively.

"If it were someone I loved then, would you disagree?" he asked carefully, looking down at her, the moonlight reflecting off his fine hair, and his eyes that have seen pain, and delivered it. Cheeks burning, Yona's mouth opened and closed, trying to form the words. She wanted to say  _yes_ to ease his worries but her heart kept screaming  _no._

"I... wouldn't disagree. Who you love is not important to me," she lied.

"Then..." he trailed off, glancing at her hand, hesitating before taking it. "If I said I loved _you_ , would you decline my proposal?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yona has to think carefully about Soo Won's confession. Soo Won has to think carefully about his feelings for Yona.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a (very belated) birthday gift to my friend Shoe! Happy birthday, you silly goose! I love our chats, and I hope I get to see you again soon!! Good luck with this semester, and remember: BE STRONG FOR SOO WON! <3
> 
> By the end, I highly recommend that you listen to St. Jude by Florence and the Machine. It just captures the mood of the scene so beautifully. Thank you to everyone for your support, too! I didn't expect this to be as popular as it was, and it means a lot to me that so many people enjoyed it <3

Soft voices and soft words had stirred Hak out of his restless sleep. Who was out talking? Wasn't it the middle of the night? Blinking away the dream he was having--surely of the past, he thought-- he rolled over in his bed, trying to ignore the two voices. In his bleary state, he hadn't recognized the voices of the two most important people in his life, one positively, the other formerly positively.

It was just as those voices moved away that he made the connection. He felt a tremor rock his core as he stood up, not registering his actions clearly. Already, he was moving towards the door, his hand subconsciously reaching for his spear.

_No, no, no, no! Yona!_

His mind had referred to her by her name, rather than her title, as it always had. His mind said one thing: close, personal, and affectionate... his mouth kept his professionalism about him.

The voices had moved away from the building by the time he reached the door, and he was afraid that he would witness a sight similar to what Yona had seen on her birthday. Opening the door, seeing Soo Won puncturing her heart with his sword. His whole body rocked with his heartbeat as he reached for the door.

But, as he opened it, he was not greeted with blood, nor a princess's corpse.  _No, of course not._ Soo Won wouldn't--

Hak couldn't finish that thought with confidence. He had thought the same thing, once upon a time.  _Soo Won wouldn't kill the King._

He had been wrong.

Glancing up, he saw Soo Won and Yona, and his heart squeezed in his chest. She was looking at him the same way she had been just a year before. Everything, every little thought, was  _Soo Won Soo Won Soo Won._ When would it ever become  _Hak_?

Hak thought his feelings were finally reaching her. He thought she was beginning to feel the same way.

Hands gripped for the necklace. He thought it had been a symbol, a sign that she held affections for him. The moonlight bounced off of the lapis lazuli, reflecting into Hak's stormy eyes. The stone was not as clear as he once thought it was.

He should have known. He should have seen the signs. Those two had only ever wanted each other. There was no room in Yona's heart for anyone other than Soo Won. It was clear as day in the look she was giving him. It was clear when she spoke to him, a deep blush covering her features. An expression he once had such a yearning for, and now it made him feel sick to his stomach.

_I should have known._

Closing the door silently, Hak decided to spare himself the torture of watching the two rekindle their flame.

He couldn't sleep the rest of the night.

 

The only sound that surrounded the two of them was the water from the pond. Standing on the bridge together, underneath the moon, casting its gaze upon them, the white light created a surreal atmosphere. Neither one of them said anything, they simply looked at the water, and the moon's reflection.

Yona's hands had started shaking, although she wasn't sure when. Perhaps it had been when they first ran into each other, or perhaps it had been when he had confessed that he loved her. Either way, she couldn't look him in the eye. All this time, she had thought she hated Soo Won, but it was only when Lili had asked her that she realized she didn't, not truly.

It was difficult to say that she loved him. Part of her felt like if she said as much, it would solidify her feelings, and she really  _would_ be in love with him. Or maybe, part of her had never fallen out of love with him. It scared her to realize that that was a possibility.

When had she started loving Soo Won? She had loved him for as long as she could remember. Part of her felt like she couldn't  _not_ love him. It was in her nature, it was in her soul and spirit. Even when she thought she wanted to kill him, and she thought she hated him, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She couldn't even bring herself to throw away the hairpin he had given her.

Yona had felt her heart squeeze when Hak looked happy, but it wasn't the same feeling that Soo Won provided. Hak had never left anything secret: how it felt in his arms, how his lips felt against her skin (even though it was just her forehead), how it felt when he teased her, or flirted with her. Hak was so unpredictable, but he was also a bit stifling.

Yona loved him, she certainly did, just not in the way he wanted. She could only play dumb for so long. She knew exactly how he felt about her; she wasn't blind. It was just easier to go with the oblivious act than it was to get involved in a romantic relationship, especially one within the group. It would be too hectic, too difficult to hide.

But with Soo Won...

He was just as busy as she was, which made his confession all the more genuine to her. He doesn't tease her, he doesn't flirt absent-mindedly, or act in a way to stifle her. In a way, Soo Won had always aimed to raise her up. He always supported her outright, either by helping her hide her tears away, or by protecting her from flying arrows. Even when they were supposed to be enemies, he supported her.

Actually, Soo Won had never wanted to be her enemy. He had always wished to support her.

If everything had gone according to plan, he could have killed Il without much incident, married Yona, and kept her in her beautiful bliss, the place she was happiest.

But, in a strange way, her witnessing the murder helped her more than either one of them could have either imagined. She grew; she grew so much that even looking at her made his heart hurt. She was no longer the defenseless princess whose only concern was the curls in her hair. She had become a woman, more so than he could have ever imagined.

True, before her birthday, he had confessed that it was difficult for him to look at her as a woman, but now, she was so obviously grown up that he wondered how he could have ever seen her as a child. He wanted nothing more than to watch her grow even more, to be by her side and witness it all.

Soo Won could pinpoint the exact moment he had truly, deeply fallen in love with her.

They had exchanged a childish puppy love for most of their lives. It was shallow, it was fruitless. But it was the day they had met in Shisen, when Yona had shot down the man from the roof who had wished to take Soo Won's life. It was that moment that he realized multitudes about her: she had grown, she was strong, she would continue to get stronger every time he saw her, but she would never truly change.

Yona was no longer the vain princess he had known. That was what he loved most about her. He felt he could finally relate to her, that they could finally see each other for who they really were. Yona had always had this strength inside of her, and he could see it, but there had been no logical way to unearth it.

Ever since the generals had spoken of his engagement, he could not get the image of Yona's face looking up at him, bow and arrow in hand, out of his mind. He regretted one thing from that afternoon: that he did not look at her face longer before turning away.

That, in his mind, was her ultimate beautiful moment. No amount of fancy clothes, or perfumes, or hair ornaments could ever take its place.

He had never had a chance to finish his thought earlier. He wanted her to know.

"Yona," he finally spoke, breaking the silence. She heard him, but refused to look at him. "I do truly love you."

Yona didn't say anything for a long while.

"We can't be together, Soo Won." Her eyes were downcast, her face turned away, yet he knew the exact expression she held. "I'm dead, remember?"

Ah, yes. That was definitely... a barrier.

Silence fell upon them again.

Turning towards her, Soo Won answered by cupping her cheek, as he had meant to do in Awa, but had decided against it. Her skin was still so soft, despite the hardships thrown at her, the hardships he had forced her into. Her cheeks were warm with a blush against his hand, which did nothing to help the pink growing in his own face. She was blushing because of him, and, somehow, that made him feel peculiarly self-conscious.

He realized that she had surprised him once again: she had become more beautiful than that moment in Shisen. Once again, Soo Won felt himself slipping, falling faster and faster.

"If you returned to Hiryuu Castle with me, I could say that Joo-Doh and I had found you wandering in the countryside, with no memory of your life as a princess," he suggested. It was overwhelmingly unlikely, and sounded like the biggest lie he had ever told, but it would be a better explanation than  _well, you see, she's been alive and helping Kouka from the shadows for the past year._

"But what about Hak?" How had he known that question would be the first thing she would say? "And the others?"

"They can come with us." It was strangely optimistic thinking for him. Maybe she brought that out of him. Yona gave him a look, almost saying,  _you know that wouldn't work_. After seeing Hak's reaction to him the first time, he knew it wouldn't work.

Once again, silence fell between them. A thought occurred to him, and he could feel his face heating up. Looking away, he tried to hide his blush as much as possible, but it seemed that he brought more attention to himself. Yona immediately noticed his trademark move of looking away when he was embarrassed, and took a step closer to him involuntarily.

"What is it?"

"No, it is ridiculous," he tried to wave away the thought, but he was unsuccessful.

"What?" she insisted, taking another involuntary step, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.  _Oh no... she really is too cute._

"It was a silly thought, that's all," he lied. It was a small, white lie. He was used to those.

"Soo Won," she pouted. He really couldn't resist her when she became that cute. He could see remnants of the princess in her expression. It made him nostalgic.

Slowly reaching for her hand, and taking it lightly into his, he waited for her to recoil, but she didn't. Using his other hand to run his fingers through her hair, he smiled shyly, feeling silly that the thought even occurred to him.

"We could elope."

Yona just kept surprising him. In that moment, her face became such an adorable shade of red that he couldn't help smiling. Naturally, she took that as him laughing at her, but he really wasn't. It just made him elated to see her with such a cute expression, especially when looking at him.

Gently, he pulled her closer, resting his head atop hers. He felt her tense for a moment, and before he could even react, she relaxed, wrapping her arms around him.

"You do not need to answer my proposal right now. We both have goals that we must ach--"

"Yes."

"Y-Yona?" he asked, pulling away, looking at her carefully. She was pouting again.

"I said yes to... your proposal, Soo Won."

When Yona finally looked up to meet his eyes, she was met with the most genuine smile she had ever seen from him, illuminated by the moonlight. For her, that was the expression that rocked her heart, the smile that made her fall in love with him again.

She could answer with clarity.

"I love you, too."

Before she could say anything else, Soo Won pulled her close to him, and she could feel his heart pounding in synchronization with hers. She was smiling, she didn't realize it, but she was smiling the widest she had in a long while.

"Yona, I am..." he took a breath. "I am so happy that you feel that way."

Being in Soo Won's arms was everything that she had dreamed it would be, and Yona felt nothing more than absolute bliss in that moment. They could both do what they needed to do, but they could have each other to return to.

He pulled away again, looking down at her, how the moonlight illuminated her hair, made it look almost pink, like her cheeks. His mouth moved, and Yona heard the words, but she could hardly believe what he had said. Even after all that, she couldn't believe it.

But she nodded, face heating up.

Slowly, his hand moved to cup her face once again, and her feet shuffled forward without her permission. Once again, he could feel the warmth coming from her face, and it easily matched his own; and, once again, the moon was witness to their actions, but neither one of them cared. In that moment, it was only them.

The words he had spoken echoed in Yona's mind; the nod she gave in return repeated ruthlessly in Soo Won's mind.

_"Yona, may I kiss you?"_

The moment that both of them had been waiting for, although the time spent waiting was unknown to both parties. Hands searching for a place to go, she planted them by his shoulders as his fingers combed through her hair, moving to support her head as she leaned it back to meet him.

The kiss was gentle; fitting for Soo Won. She hadn't known what to expect, because she had only had kisses to the forehead. He was leaving her plenty of room to leave if she so wished, but she didn't want to. It was an innocent kiss, nothing too passionate or forceful; something perfect from him.

Yona broke the kiss first, and for just a moment, she thought she saw a flash of disappointment grace his features.

It was then that she realized exactly who he was, and Soo Won quickly made the same deduction in the same time.

"We are--"

"We're--"

A short silence, but nothing compared to earlier that evening. Gently, Yona reached for Soo Won's hand, intertwining her fingers with his.

_Engaged._

 

 


End file.
